Theism, Atheism, and Big Bang Cosmology

by William Lane Craig, Quentin Smith

Contemporary science presents us with the remarkable theory that the universe began to exist about fifteen billion years ago with a cataclysmic explosion called "the Big Bang." The question of whether Big Bang cosmology supports theism or atheism has long been a matter of discussion among the general public and in popular science books, but has received scant attention from philosophers. This book sets out to fill this gap by means of a sustained debate between two philosophers, William Lane Craig and Quentin Smith, who defend opposing positions. Craig argues that the Big Bang that began the universe was created by God, while Smith argues that the Big Bang has no cause. Alternating chapters by the two philosophers criticize and attempt to refute preceding arguments. Their arguments are based on Einstein's theory of relativity and include a discussion of the new quantum cosmology recently developed by Stephen Hawking and popularized in A Brief History of Time .

Genres: Philosophy, Atheism, Science, Religion, Christian, Nonfiction

342 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

William Lane Craig is Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California. He and his wife Jan have two grown children.

At the age of sixteen as a junior in high school, he first heard the message of the Christian gospel and yielded his life to Christ. Dr. Craig pursued his undergraduate studies at Wheaton College (B.A. 1971) and graduate studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (M.A. 1974; M.A. 1975), the University of Birmingham (England) (Ph.D. 1977), and the University of Munich (Germany) (D.Theol. 1984). From 1980-86 he taught Philosophy of Religion at Trinity, during which time he and Jan started their family. In 1987 they moved to Brussels, Belgium, where Dr. Craig pursued research at the University of Louvain until assuming his position at Talbot in 1994.

He has authored or edited over thirty books, including The Kalam Cosmological Argument; Assessing the New Testament Evidence for the Historicity of the Resurrection of Jesus; Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom; Theism, Atheism and Big Bang Cosmology; and God, Time and Eternity, as well as over a hundred articles in professional journals of philosophy and theology, including The Journal of Philosophy, New Testament Studies, Journal for the Study of the New Testament, American Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophical Studies, Philosophy, and British Journal for Philosophy of Science.

Reviews

[Ben Wanamaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far, the essays in debate-form provide a very rigorous set of interpretive perceptions, very carefully deliberated on both sides.

I highly enjoy the philosophical machinery at work here, which forces the student to think hard beyond the prevailing hypothoses of Cosmology, transcending one's faculties within the realm of discovered facts in the relative sciences.

Not being grounded in advanced math or any branch of quantitative, theoretical physics, I dont fully comprehend the mathematical models used to emphasize the authors ' structural exegesis.

However, it is mostly unnecessary, as the equations offered are in bulk explained in general layman's terms, where the arguments are still understood if followed studiously. This is a seminal work I will be considering the implications of these arguments for a long time to come! Very engrossing, stimulating, and compels me to confess that there's more to reality than meets the eyes of understanding so far. The journey of discovery has continued since the 1994, publish date.

[JDP · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is like a hurricane of metaphysics and physics. the book focuses on the kalam cosmological argument, and the two authors debate various points such as (i) must the universe have a beginning? (ii) does everything that begin to exist have a cause? the last part of the book raises interesting questions about black holes. check it out, if you dare!

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A CHRISTIAN/DEBATE THAT FOCUSES ON COSMOLOGY

William Lane Craig (born 1949) is a Christian apologist formerly associated with Campus Crusade for Christ; he currently holds the position of research professor of philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. He has written many books, such as 'God?: A Debate between a Christian and an Atheist,' 'Hard Questions, Real Answers,' etc. Quentin Smith (born 1952) is professor of philosophy at Western Michigan University; he has written books such as 'Time, Change and Freedom: An Introduction to Metaphysics,' 'Ethical and Religious Thought in Analytic Philosophy of Language,' etc. This 1993 book consists of alternating essays by the two men.

Craig argues, "if an actual infinite could exist in reality, it would be impossible to add to it. But it obviously is possible to add to, say, a collection of books; just take one page from each of the first hundred books, add a title-page, and put it on the shelf. Therefore, an actual infinite cannot exist in the real world." (Pg. 14) Later, he adds, "I have argued that scientific evidence concerning the expansion of the universe indicates that the universe is finite in duration, beginning to exist about 15 billion years ago. This is a truly remarkable confirmation of the conclusion to which philosophical argument alone led us." (Pg. 56)

Smith states, "[Craig] writes that the causal proposition 'is so intuitively obvious, especially when applied to the universe, that probably no one in his right mind REALLY believes it to be false.' His point here seems to be that this is self-evident, that it cannot be conceived to be false. But this claim itself seems obviously false; I find it quite easy to conceive of the universe beginning to exist without a cause." (Pg. 182)

This is one of the best Christian/Atheist debate books out there---particularly in its detailed treatment of cosmology. It will be of considerable value to anyone interested in Christian apologetics, or the philosophy of religion.